Georgia Wins, But Blows Chances Of Making Olympics In Wild Qualifying Tournament Game

The Olympics are just a few weeks away and teams are trying to qualify for the Games and that's the situation the Georgian National Team found itself in during their game against the Philippines during the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Riga, Latvia.

Late in the game, Georgia found itself in a really odd situation.

It was on its way to a 96-94 win over the Philippines. That's all well and good, but the win would make the team 1-1 in group play which would tie it with the other two teams in the group, the Philippines and Latvia.

So, the tie-breaker was scoring differential with the top two teams moving on. Latvia's differential was +19, the Philippines were +7, and Georgia was -26. This meant that the Philippines and Latvia were moving on unless Georgia could beat the former by more than 19 points.

So, with no time on the clock, a 96-94 lead, and the Philippines taking a free throw Georgia decided to risk it all. Missing the free throw would mean a Philippines loss so it would move on, so Georgia decided to try to get the rebound and put it in its own basket to send the game to overtime and give the team at the very least a chance to win by enough to move on.

This plan failed miserably before it really even had a chance to be implemented.

That's right. One of the easiest — albeit most high-pressure — putbacks that dude will ever have in his career just wouldn't go.

I don't know if it was dumb luck, or if trying to score in his own basket just felt weird and he short-circuited. Whatever the case, Georgia is out of the tournament and therefore won't be heading to the Olympics.

Although, with the boat parade, threats of poo in the river, and fans trying to steer clear of Paris, they may not be missing out.